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Natasha has made the mistake of trusting someone before, when she was very young, and she will never make that mistake again. That’s what she tells herself, anyway. Barton and Hill are making her question herself, though, and she hates it. She tells herself that even though they’ve been on a fair amount of missions together, that both of them will turn on her when they have a good opportunity to do so. She’s still waiting for this whole SHIELD thing to be an elaborate trick, and to be funneled back to the Red Room once this “test” is over.
Today, she’s on a mission with only Hill, and betrayal is on her mind. Hill has been too nice for too long, and it’s only a matter of time before Hill does something to fuck her over. That is how Natasha Romanoff’s life goes, and she will never expect anything different.
Hill is on the ground, and Natasha has fucked up badly enough that their assailants have cornered her on a roof. The ground is too far away to jump, but she knows if she stays up here, she’ll be killed. In the span of a few seconds, she tries to decide if she wants to die via bullet or gravity.
Then, Hill’s voice breaks her out of her momentary haze. Hill is calling for her to jump, and she’ll catch her. Natasha doesn’t have time to tell her she’s crazy, because this is all happening in the span of a few seconds, and their assailants are about to shoot.
“Trust me, Romanoff!” Hill shouts up to her, and Natasha suddenly doesn’t want to die from a bullet wound. God, I’m going to regret this.
Natasha throws herself off the roof, expecting to hit the ground and black out within a few seconds. Instead, she crashes into Hill, which still hurts like a motherfucker, but doesn’t kill her. They both crash into the ground together from the force of it, and Hill catching her is just enough resistance to keep her from smashing into the ground. Natasha swears from the pain of it, but it’s better than a broken spine. They get up and run despite their injuries, knowing they’ll be tailed soon if they stay still.
Later, in medbay, Natasha continues to be baffled that Hill didn’t let her die. They both suffered injuries on the way out, and Hill would barely have been injured at all if she hadn’t helped Natasha. They’re in beds next to each other in medbay, and Natasha tries to wrap her head around the idea that maybe, Hill might not want to fuck her over.
“...thanks, Hill,” Natasha says finally, her voice slurred from painkillers.
“No problem,” Hill says. “And you can call me Maria.”
Maria. Maybe Natasha can get used to that.